Last week, my wife, the kids, and I went to Bicol to attend the opening of the 300th fiesta anniversary of Ina, the Bicol region’s patroness. We were all psyched up for a long weekend and some bonding time with family and relatives. Of course, I had some deadlines to beat.

But I was not worried too much. Hey, there is Internet connectivity in almost all parts of the country. No place is that secluded and off the grid, not anymore. So, I was confident that I could finish the couple of articles and stories that my editor tasked me with.

So, right after arriving at my in-laws’ home, after downing a cup of coffee and some local bread and pastries, off to the town center I went, looking for an Internet café where I could do my stories pronto.

For about 40 minutes, I was happily pounding on the keyboard of one of the net café’s computers. And just as I was about to finish the first of my assigned articles, the power went off. Along with the electricity, my article in progress was gone. It became bits and bytes, lost in cyberspace.

I had no choice but to start all over again, trying my hardest to recall the words I encoded earlier – the fruits of my delusional sense of genius.

Moral of the story? Always save your work in progress – that’s a lesson relearned at a cost of some 40 minutes of wasted time.

Adobe Flashes

Shares of Adobe’s stock soared last week after Apple, the maker of the iPad, iPhone, and iPods, said it was opening its door for applications converted from Adobe’s Web popular Flash video software.

Previously, Apple has banned the use of Flash on its devices. While the new policy does not permit the use of Flash applications on the iPad and its sibling devices, it allows app developers to create programs in Flash and then convert them into the iOS format that Apple does not find objectionable.

This development shows how much weight Apple’s word carries in the IT world. It demonstrates how much the market values Steve Jobs’ endorsement.

The coin’s other side, however, also shows that Apple, for all its ubercoolness, cannot do it all alone. It needs Flash to keep its consumers fully satisfied.

Samsung’s Galaxy S in China

Samsung Electronics announced last week the launch of its Galaxy S smart phone in China. Seeking to catch up with the world’s leading mobile phone maker Nokia, Samsung recently hosted a ceremony in Beijing to launch its current signature phone model.

Samsung said it is targeting the high-end market in China, the world’s biggest mobile phone market, with a total of 755 million mobile subscribers, according to data from Nielsen Company.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.